In the field of workpiece transfer there arise many applications in which it is required that a given workpiece or workpieces be lifted vertically upward out of a fixture, pallet, or other work holding device, then moved along an arcuate path through a given angle or distance and then lowered into an advanced fixture, pallet, or other work holding device. It is general practice to use seperate cylinders, or independent mechanical systems to generate the vertical motion and arcuate motions respectively.
It is one object of this invention to provide a single simple mechanically interrelated system which is capable of generating the entire path comprised of a lift motion, a rotate motion, and a lower motion.
Other applications arise in which it is required that a workpiece be removed from a given fixture, pallet, or other work holding device, along a given arcuate or straight line and then transferred to a different location where it is reloaded into another given fixture, pallet, or work holding device, again along a given arcuate or straight line. It is again a general practice to use a separate cylinder, or independent mechanical system to generate the load-unload motion and another to generate the transfer motion.
It is another object of this invention to provide a single simple mechanically interrelated system which is capable of generating the arcuate or straight line load and unload motions with a transfer motion therebetween in a smooth uninterrupted single path.
In a more general sense, it is another object of this invention to provide a mechanically interrelated system which is capable of generating a generalized path for a transfer mechanism in which a first portion of its motion is along a path created by movement along one of its six degrees of freedom, a second portion of its movement is along a path created predominantly by movement along another of its six degrees of freedom, and a third portion of its movement is along a path created by a movement along the same degree of freedom as the first portion of movement, but in the opposite direction.
Other objects and features of the invention will be apparent in the following description and claims in which the best modes of the invention are set forth together with the principles of operation and details to enable persons skilled in the art to practice the invention.